August 23, 189U





Record and  Guide.





237





M.





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DEvteD TO m- Estate . BuiLDijfc *;J5u(itectvjiv MojseiIou) Deoo^^tm*.
Bii5ii/E5S a»Id Themes of CeHe>V^ Ij<t€«\est

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Published every Saturday.
Telephone,           -          .                     Cortlandt 1370.

Communications should be addressed to

C.W. SWEET, 191   Broadway.

J. T. LINDSEY. Business Manager.                                  __________





Vol, XLVI.





AUGUST 23, 1890.





No. 1,171





THE paths of the bulls are not strewn with roses. Crop scares
and money scares were in all conscience bad enough, but now
comes the labor scare threatening to take what little courage is left
to the sijeculators for a rise. That the stock market has stood it so
well under such a load of bad tidings is due largely to the good
effects wbicli are expected from the workings of the silver bill.
The extraordinary rise in the price of this metal every bull believes
will be paralleled by a like rise in railroad stocks, and this causes
holders to hang on in spite of any and every rumor. It will not
be long now before the crop question and the money prob¬
lem will be definitely settled; but the labor strike is
quite another matter. This is likely to be fought to
the bitter end, as both sides are giants in their way.
Aside from this, everything is looking well, general business is
highly satisfactory, factories are well employed; in fact, in the
cotton industry the reason why many mills are on short time is not
for want of a market to sell their goods, but for want of the staple
with which to make them. It must be remembered, however, that
the two great railroad strikes which we have had in this country
in late years were the signal for a general slackening up
of business, more particularly the Burlington & Quincy strike,
which was followed by an immediate dearth of business
all through the Southwest, finally reaching the East, and continuing
its bad eftpcts for a long period. The present strike, if it spreads
to all the Vanderbilt lines, even those west of Chicago, will affect
even a more important and extended region than did the Burling¬
ton & Quincy, and the results will be proportionately disastrous.





THERE seems to be no manner of doubt as to Mayor Grant's
intention to reappoint the Rapid Transit Commission of last
spring; but it would seem to be a matter of considerable doubt
whether very much good can come from so doing. We do
not wish to under-estimate the value of the work done by these
gentlemen under the advice of Mr. Worthen. They have certainly
shed some light on the general plan which a future system muse
take; and, better still, they have shown the absolute necessity for
some supplementary legislation. But unfortunately that which
they have done indicates clearly that they have reached the end of
their tether. Neither is it too much to say that a commission of
successful business men is not composed of the right stuff to fulfill
their task in a satisfactory manner. It caimot be too emphati¬
cally stated that the laying out of a rapid transit system is an
engineering problem which needs the exercise of the best engineer¬
ing talent. It was a committee of business men that gave us the
present elevated railroad system, with its many faults of con¬
struction. We cannot afford to take the same chances a second
time. There is nothing to be said against the character and intelli¬
gence-of Mayor Grant's commission, but there is very much to be
said against their equipment. The blunders made by the
World's Fair Committee ought to be sufficient to indicate
the results of constituting executive commissions on the
principal that he who drives fat oxen must himself be fat.
Good engineering advice is something, but it is not enough. In an
interview we published last week with Mr. Worthen, the engineer
who has been advising the commission, that gentleman said that
they wish to put the different parts of the contemplated system
in the hands of different companies, with a view to securing at
least some measure of competition—^a remark that leads us to con¬
gratulate the city that the said commission is practically powerless.
This action is based on the exploded notion that there can be per¬
manent competition in a " natural monopoly." It is curious that
the commission should fall into this bltmder with the history of
the elevated roads before their eyes, as well as the history of the
gas companies and the electric light companies in this city. If
they want to know what competition in a natural monopoly is
worth let them apply to Mr. Gilroy for the facts of the recent
combination of electric light companies to exploit this muni¬
cipality. All in all, the best thing that could happen would be
tor New York to own, if not contnd and operate, its own eleva¬





ted roads, but this is too much to expect at this stage of popular
prejudice ip favor of large corporations—a sentence which may
lead queerly, but what else is the opposition to the municipal
management of natural monopolies. Arrangements should be
made for the reversion at the end of a term of years of the entire
system to the city.   This would give the people the upper hand.





WE hear that some doubt is expressed whether the short form
for deeds and mortgages, prescribed by the Legislature at
its last session, will be adopted to such an extent as to make it
really useful in simplifyng and reducing in size the mass of papers
recorded at the Register's office. We cannot believe, however, that
people will be so hedged in by custom that they will consent to pay
an additional $5 over aud above the ordinary recording fees for the
l>rivilege of using a mass of unnecessary verbiage.' If these long
forms served to render the transfer more safe there would be some
reason in holding to them ; but, as a matter of fact, they benefit
nobody except the stationers who sell them. There is no possible
doubt about the meaning of the forms prescribed by the Legislature,
for the bill after stating tbe forms to be used goes on specifically to
define the meaning of the vjarious phrases employed. And if any¬
one thinks that the Legislature usurped a judicial function in thus
defining vhe sense in which the form is to be taken, he will find
that the English courts have held that Parliament has this right,
and there is no reason to suppose that an American court would
not pass a similar judgment. Indeed, the English experience in
this matter would appear to be conclusive. The use of short,
statutory forms of conveyance similar to those contained in the New
York Short Form act was sanctioned by the British Law of Prop¬
erty act of IfcSl; and the report on Land Transfer of the Bar Com¬
mittee of Ltjndon in March, 1886, states that the forms prescribed
by the above act, though not compulsory, " have been completely
adopted into current practice." Certain of the large insurance
companies have their own forms elaborated after many years of
experience. If they wish to retain them, why they can afford to
pay for it. But we liave not the slightest doubt that people to
whom |5 means 500 cents will not let custom or a legal preference
for useless verbiage stand in the way of using the short forms.
These, we understand, are for sale at all the stationery shops.





BETWEEN the contradictory and sensational reports in the
newspapers, and Vice-President Webb's pleasant way of
" stuffing" the reporters, it is by no means easy to understand the
precise bearing of the present trouble either as regards the merits
of the controversy or its importance. Last week all the papers
united in declaring that the strike was at an end; on the Monday
of the present week the fact was discovered that a general strike
over the whole Van.lerbilt system was pending; and in that con¬
dition it has remained up to the time of writing. Whatever the
merits of the controversy or its ultimate result, it is evident that
regarding the latest phase of the matter the management of the
Central road has lacked both wisdom and discretion. It might
have been justified in refusing to arbitrate the dispute, though even
that would seem to be a matter of doubt if Vice-President Webb
has so perfect a case as he claims. But since the public have such
a profound interest in the controversy, since a prolonged and wide¬
spread strike would cause such an enormous inconvenience and
loss, it is bit right that they should be allowed aa insight into the
merits of the dispute, such as must have been the result of a public
questioning of the discharged men by Mr. Powderly and Mr. Webb.
But, no; both sides have mounted a very high horse, and are
determined to ride it no matter how much inconvenience and
money it costs the public. This must not be forgotten in deter¬
mining how far the strike is and will be justifiable. It is useless
to argue as some of the papers have argued, that the
managers of the Central road are too astute to provoke
a strike unnecessarily, particularly one of such great
importance, for the counter argument that such an experienced
labor leader as Powderly—a man who knows so well the danger
of strikes and the crushing effects of failure—would order his men
out only when he believed the most vital interests he represented
were in danger, has an equal if not a greater force. The presump¬
tion that Mr. Webb is really forcing an issue between organized
labor and capital is inevitable. If he had been content with simply
antagonizing the Knights of Labor it might be supposed that his
quarrel was limited in scope to that organization alone; but as
he has been unwise enough to embroil himself with other associa¬
tions, and as these associations have thought the matter of suffi¬
cient importance to go on a sympathetic strike, it is plain that his
fight is with labor organization as such. There is, however,
another aspect to this matter which Mr. Webb would have done
well to consider. There has been of late no little internal dissension
among the various labor organizations. The American Federation
of Labor and the Knights have been at daggers drawn for some
time; the Central Labor Union has been split in half; and in the
cloakmakers' strike there were considerable differences among the
workingmen.    Capitalists would have done well to let this disin-